A Quantum Prison

Thomas turned off the motorbike. The engine ticked like a metronome as it cooled. The strong smell of coffee caught in the breeze, delivered straight to his nose. He looked across to his right. Out front sat a gaunt thin man with thick black glasses and short black hair. Thomas looked in his mirrors to see if he was being followed, climbed off and stepped over the road towards the café, towards the man sitting.

"Do you think its safe out here?" asked Thomas.

"Yeah you're right. Let's head inside," said the thin man.

They sat, facing the entrance.

"So Tom, what's your opinion on all of this?" Asked the thin man.

"Its bullshit John. The whole fucking thing. Five years we worked on this. And they pull this shit? Nah I don’t buy that. Not one bit. They kicked us off because they didn't want to pay us the bonus on completing it. It was in the clause we signed. I browsed over it again last night, that was when I found it. Small print, of course. I texted you as soon as I saw it," Said Thomas.

John scratched his head. A pinched look fell on his face.

"I dunno, Tom...."

A beautiful blonde waitress floated over to the table asking the two men if they wanted coffees. She smelt of vanilla and rosewood.

Thomas sighed and the men both ordered long black coffees. The waitress gave a smile and twirled away, her hair dancing over her shoulders. 

"As I was saying," John continued, "There's parts where I do believe them. Maybe this can't be done. Not without more time and money. Maybe Paul was right. Maybe they closed this down in the nick of time." 

Thomas shook his head and looked down, John let out a sigh and continued.

"Look, If we put that kind of power through it, the power needed for something bigger than a rat, it may, as Paul said, become unstable. I think its power related problem. Almost like the Converter needs more power. More power to process more information. Then..." he stopped. 

Thomas raised a hand. "Why did Paul have to go behind our backs and air out his fears? 

"Paul was scared. That was plain to see," Said John.

"He didn't have to tell them we were years off though. We're almost there. The device works on smaller things. We've proven that with the rats and mice. The Bio-printer also works great. We went through it with them, John. That's why I’m calling bullshit. Ninety nine percent complete and they shut us down. I don’t buy it. I know you can finish this John. I want to see this through. If we can solve this problem and then we show them it works, we will be in all the academic and research papers." Thomas paused. The cups clinked against the saucers as the waitress put both cups down in front of the men. John lent forward, took a sip then lent back.

Thomas continued, "I want to break in. This weekend. We're close John. You know it."

John ignored this, "Have you manage to contact the others?"

"No, Greg and Marcus are both taking long vacations."

"What together?" Asked John with a baffled look.

Thomas looked at John, tilting his head slightly left, "no".

John laughed.

"Paul ruined this project by informing them it couldn’t be done on time!" Exclaimed Thomas.

"Look, Paul was ready to quit anyway. It was when that monkey came out with the extra arm. That was when he decided to say something." 

"It just needed to be tweaked, is all. You know that. Two weeks left before the due date. Two weeks!," said Thomas.

They each took sips of coffee in silence. 

"You know, I suspect they are selling this tech to the defence force. Paul told them how close we were. Did you ever think it was strange he was here before all of us started the project." Thomas took a sip.

"What makes you say that?"

"Paul was an informer on the project. That's just my guess. I think its obvious now that I think about it. I doubt he thinks this is dangerous. Suppose they could use this tech for creating spies. No need for shitty disguises, right?"

They finished up their coffees.

"Look Tom, You know its risky going back in there. Breaking in. They escorted us out for a reason."

"In the contract, it said we needed results before the 29th. That’s two weeks from now. We can do this. We can prove this works. We need to try."

"Tom, You need to let it go. We go back in there, we go to prison.

Do you understand that?"

They walked outside.

"Look Tom, lets go bowling or do something next weekend. Golf. Anything. What do you think?"

Thomas let out a short sharp sigh, "Sure man. Sounds good."

Thomas got home and opened his apartment door, his cat cried out, a long slow cry came from the lounge room. He rushed over. "Aww, Tabby you poor girl. We will get this fixed this weekend. I promise." As he stroked her head softly. She had arthritis, it had only gotten worse over the years, to the point where she could barely move. Both rear legs had locked and would drag along as she needed to eat or do her business. Often staying on her little cushion as the pain medication helped ease the suffering.

Two weeks ago the nurse had told him to put her down. Pleaded with him.

"She's suffering. She is in severe pain," the nurse had told him.

He refused. Something could be done.

Thomas's heart broke seeing her this way. His companion all these years. Often sitting on his lap as he studied exams or being there for him when Sharon broke it off. He couldn't let her go. Not like this. He thought about his conversation with John. He hoped it had went differently. 

Thomas removed two pills from the cabinet and crushed them up in Tabby's tuna and lamb meal. Tabby heard the can being opened and tried to get up but collapsed in pain. Thomas rushed over with the bowl and placed it in front of her, patting her gently as she ate.

He then sat back down on the couch and watched Tabby as she slept. Watching her stomach expanding and deflating. He sighed. He got up and went to the book shelf, Grabbed a folder and sat back down. The folder read 'Presentation 3". He flicked through a couple of pages.

"Imagine a loved one, their body is failing. Cancers or old age. Giving them a brand new body, free from illness. Then we transfer your loved ones mind over. Their memories come with them."

Then whispered, "Just hold on Tabby, please."

He starred at the brown key on the desk, the one he had said he lost but then found weeks later in the bottom of the washing machine. He knew this day would come, and so he didn't hand it back. Thomas hoped they hadn't changed the locks. 

On the drive home, John reflected. He was sceptical on what Tom said, but then again, he was also sceptical that the team got canned when the contract didn't expire for another two weeks. For what? What did he have to show for it. Nothing. The pay check was good, but he was in it more for the geeky hands on stuff. The cutting edge. He knew he could work out the problems, if he had more time. It was him that made a particle accelerator in his parents garage, for a science show. Won first prize. He also converted his Go Kart to hydrogen. "This kids a wiz. He's going places. Our boy!" His parents gushed to friends. 

In his empty apartment, John sat on the chair facing the window of the city. Large building windows reflected the sun. He held his head in his hands. On the desk was all his notes from the project. Much like Tom, he couldn't let it go either. The risk is too high, he thought. The thought of prison was too much. Does Tom honestly believe that they would let them continue if they could prove it works? They'd be arrested on the spot. He was so close to finishing it. So, so close. But the rug was pulled, time to let this go. He went out for his weekly jog. Took a shower. 

Then it came to him. More power without the critical crash, or weird anomalies. The thought of spreading the instruction load over two quantum converters, instead of one. Both working in parallel. The hardware upgrade was easy. He had a spare chip, a backup. Such a simple idea, why hadn't he thought about this earlier. It would just slot right in. The crucial part would be rewriting the code.

He got out of the shower, soap still under his arms and down his torso. He quickly dried off and jotted down some notes on a scrap of paper by his desk. Water dripping from his hair. Three days and nights to rewrite the code. This could be done. He picked up the phone and texted Thomas.

"I'm in. Lets do this on Sunday. I may have found a solution," he wrote.

John searched through his desk to find the USB with the source code. Something he shouldn't have taken, but was proud of his work and made a backup. Snuck it out in the sole of his shoe. He booted the computer and made a strong coffee, the first of many tonight. 

There was work to be done.

Thomas heard his phone vibrate, lent over and viewed the message. His eyes lit up. He looked over to his sleeping Tabby, "Just hold on," he said, a glee in his eyes.

                                     ***

John sat inside the same café, same table and waited. He looked at his watch then heard the sound of the Ducati pulling up front. He was about to stand but then sat, scrunching the napkin in his damp hand. He felt brittle and exhausted. He had worked 30 hours straight. Tom walk in, scan the room and locked eyes with him.

John stifled a yawn as Tom approached and sat down.

"You look like shit," said Thomas.

"Gee thanks man," John laughed, "I've been busting code out for the past few nights. This should work."

John explained the idea on the dual Quantum Converters. Thomas was beside himself. 

They would go tonight.

Thomas had parked the white Subaru three blocks away. He looked over at Tabby. He had given her more medication to ease her pain. But it had hardly helped. She barely moved, just moaned. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door then held her in his arms. He walked slowly to the building.

It was a simple red brick block in the industrial area. From the outside it looked like a telephone exchange building. No windows, just large double doors. Mark, the old maintenance guy had drinks with them the day everyone got let go. He told Thomas the whole building had had its power cut before everyone left. The security cameras should pose no threat. He was willing to take this chance. 

He spotted someone walking over, a slight limp from his left leg. The shadowy figure gave a wave as it approached closer.

"Hey Tom. What's with the cat?" asked John with a puzzled look.

"This is our test subject, its bigger than a rat" he said with a smile.

"Really? What if it doesn't work?"

"Are you second guessing your code?" Said Thomas with a laugh.

He turned and faced the door, placed the stolen key in the lock and closed his eyes.

"come on, please," he whispered.

Then turned the key, It had opened.

The room was completely dark. Thomas went straight to the right, to the switch box. Then turned on the four switches. Each giving a satisfying clunk. The florescent lights flickered on. Almost everything was where it had been when they were escorted out. Thomas and John walked past the cages of rats, past the lunch lounge, and met John in the other room.

The room was tiled in white and had white cream walls and a high ceiling. In the opposite end of the doorway sat a long metal cylinder with a clear lid. At first glance, it looked like a mini tanning bed. This was the Bio-printer.

To Thomas's left was what looked to be two portable showers connected with fibre optic cables. This was the machine that could transfer consciousness from one living organism to another.

Thomas thought about his theories again. This will truly be used for the military and that was why this was being shut down. He felt anger. Maybe one day it would be used for good. 

Tonight, it would be.

He watched John plugging in boards and uploading the new software to the main unit. John was in his element here.

"The computational power is almost double. The second Quantum Converter seems to be doing fine. All internal tests have passed," John said as he punched a few keys on the keyboard. He placed Tabby down on chair, she seemed settled.

"Ok, shall we test this?" Asked John.

"Firstly lets do the mandatory test we've always done." Said Thomas. John agreed.

Thomas walked down the hall and opened a cage to retrieved a healthy brown rat. John snipped some rat hair, enough for a DNA sample, and placed it in to the Bio-printer. The display went dark, then the reflections of blue and red lasers bounced off the cream walls. The machine beeped, much like a microwave would, to alarm its user it was ready.

John removed the freshly printed rat. It had black hair and was warm to the touch, the heart was beating faintly -- they had to move fast. 

They each opened their doors and placed both rats. Then Thomas stood back and stroked Tabby as she tried to nod off. She must have been exhausted with the travel, he thought. John pressed a few buttons. The ceiling lights dimmed for just a second the only sound was from from the compressor that cooled the machine. Then the screen read '|Rand0||Completed|'.

John opened the first door. The fat brown rat just laid there. Motionless, his body growing cold. Then he opened the second. The newly printed black rat was full of energy. Sniffing its new enclosure and did all the right things a healthy rat would do.

This test had been done hundred of times before. Anything larger than a rat would not convert consciousness over. Most times nothing would happen. Other times there were rare physical anomalies. More computational power was needed. Paul was wrong about his fears. We just needed to try this from a different angle. 

Both men heard sirens in the distance. Was it for them?

John turned to Thomas, "What do you want to do?"

"All internal tests passed, right?" Thomas asked.

"They all passed. Even with the increased power. The second processor is doing its job." He pointed to several things on the screen, see?" John said with a smile.

"Ok lets try Tabby." Thomas cut some lose hair from her and placed it in the Bio-printer. An almost identical cat was created. Same white and black fur, but the white patch over her left eye was now on her right eye. 

The sirens were closer now, a block away...

John lifted out the printed cat and placed it in the machine. Then closed the door. They had to move fast.

"I'm not going to prison, Tom. I can't," John said in a panic.

"You wont. If this works. We can explain our way out of it. The contract said 2 more weeks!"

Thomas kissed Tabby, "I love you. I love you so much" He was nervous as he placed her in the little chamber and closed the door. But he had nothing to lose.

The two men looked at each other. Thomas sat down on the chair, head back against the wall and gave a small nod to John. Then he starred at Tabby's door, deep in thought. He had made the right decision not putting her down two weeks ago. She will be OK. 

John pressed a few keys closed his eyes and executed the command. 

The screen read '|Rand1||Completed|'. A message John had not seen before.

Smoke began to billow out of the machine. 

He looked at Tom. Tom had his same expression on his face, his head against the wall. Focused on Tabby's door. The two men said nothing. John opened the second door of the newly printed Tabby.

Tabby came out, purring against John's ankles, and with a smile he gave her a pat. A flush of relief fell over him. He had solved it.

Then he opened the other door. The cat moaned and cried. Tried to stand. But couldn't. John stepped back, shocked. This shouldn't be... What had happened?

"We have the place surrounded, come out now!" said a voice through a megaphone.

Thomas closed his eyes, the anchor of reality was being tugged, then pulled and twisted and then nothing. He opened his eyes and felt pain, so much pain. The most terrible pain he had ever felt in his entire life. He tried to stand but couldn't, his legs felt like a rusty stuck gate. Pain shot through his body. He screamed out in agony. He screamed for help. He wanted to die.

The door in front of him opened. John stood tall and looked down at him.